


Losing Ground

by rebelmeg



Series: Rebelmeg's Tony Stark Bingo 2018 [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Gen, I really need Tony to stop hoarding all the guilt, Iron Bros, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, MIT bros, POV James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Post AIW, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tony Stark Bingo 2018, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-11 19:41:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15322839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelmeg/pseuds/rebelmeg
Summary: After Tony is finally home, Rhodey finds him having a very bad night.Based onthis beautiful comicby thefuzzyaya on Tumblr.





	Losing Ground

**Author's Note:**

> For the Tony Stark Bingo, Square K5: Missing scene/epilogue/ coda
> 
> So, depending on what kind of inspiration I get hit with next for the After the Ashes series (Pepperony needs to be next, but I don't know in what context yet), I'm probably gonna implement this into that, as it fits well with the other two parts so far. 
> 
> ALSO, GO LEAVE SOME LOVE FOR [THEFUZZYAYA](http://thefuzzyaya.tumblr.com/) ON TUMBLR, LOOK AT THAT HEART-WRENCHING COMIC! 
> 
> Thank you to my lovely beta, @SyoshoHiataki

"Hey, Friday?"

"Yes, Colonel?"

"Can you tell me where Tony is?"

"Boss is in storage room B6, sub-level one."

"Thanks."

Rhodey made his way to the storage room, by now used to the slight mechanical sounds of his braces as he walked. He had no idea what Tony was doing in one of the sub-level storage rooms, but his absence was extremely noticeable. Rhodey kind of suspected that the second Pepper fell asleep, Tony had slipped away. It worried him.

The storage room was marked with the number on the door, and it was locked. Rhodey knocked and waited for a reply.

“Tony?”

Rhodey rested his hand on the door and leaned in closer, listening for a reply. None came.

"He still in there, Fri?"

"Yes, he is."

“Tony, open the door.”

He’d been hoping to avoid this, but… he’d also been kind of expecting it. After the day they’d all had, this was not something that surprised him.

“I’m gonna break the lock now.”

It didn’t take long, Rhodey had gotten into the habit of carrying a multitool in his pocket (sometimes for him, but mostly for Tony), and in a few seconds he’d buggered up the lock enough with the flathead screwdriver that he was able to turn the door knob. Good thing this was a simple storage room with a basic locking doorknob and not one of the biometric access doors that most of the Compound used.

“I hate to break it to you, Tones, but…” He paused as he stepped inside.

The door opened outward, which was a good thing since the floor just inside the door was covered with the contents from several big cardboard boxes, sitting open amidst the mess. “What the…”

He recognized some of the stuff. A few band t-shirts from their MIT days, probably ones that didn’t fit after Tony’s shoulders had filled out with lean muscle in his early twenties. A few things of Rhodey’s, actually, he recognized those slacks. Probably ones that Tony had meant to return to him but never did. A few typed up scientific and engineering reports and papers in protective plastic covers, some he recognized from MIT and others that Tony had done later. A picture frame lying facedown on the floor, over shards of broken glass.

He stepped over the mess and picked up the picture carefully, half expecting it to be a picture of him and Tony in college since that was the era most of the stuff on the floor was from. 

It wasn’t. It was a picture of May Parker, Tony, and Peter, obviously taken by a phone held by the kid. They were all grinning widely at the camera, May was even laughing, Tony looked on the brink of a chuckle. Pieces of broken glass were still clinging to the edges of the frame, a few small scratches on the photograph.

Rhodey looked over his shoulder, his worry for Tony increasing. He’d been so distracted by the mess on the floor, he’d just shot a quick look over at his best friend to make sure the guy was actually in the room, standing in front of a holoscreen.

Tony hadn’t moved, not a bit, just stood there in front of the glowing screen exactly where he'd been when Rhodey opened the door. He hadn’t even acknowledged that Rhodey was in the room, and that by itself was… not a good sign.

“Tony? Are… are you okay?

Still no response, and Rhodey looked a little closer at what held Tony’s attention so intensely. Several different news feeds were playing simultaneously at a low volume, but Rhodey could pick out odd phrases from the jumble, spoken by recognizable news anchors and stricken victims of the after-effects of Thanos.

_“—Avengers left us? Tony Stark still keeps silent—”_

_“—Tony Stark said that we are safe with Iron Man, but recent events proved—”_

_“—my family… all of them—”_

_“Where is Iron Man when we need him?”_

_“—people just vanish…”_

Rhodey’s stomach clenched at the words, hating all of them, hating the people speaking them, hating that those words were going right into Tony’s brain and wrongly proving that the fault was all his. Tony soaked up guilt and blame and self-hatred like a sponge, no matter what he did or sacrificed. If Rhodey could change one thing, just one, about his best friend… it would be that. Tony didn’t deserve to carry the weight of the world on his already too-burdened shoulders.

Then Rhodey realized something that made that tight knot in his gut constrict even further.

What was on the screens and coming through the speakers wasn’t even the worst part.

No, the worst part was what Tony had loosely gripped in his right hand, clearly one of the things that had been hidden away in the boxes on the floor. Something he had dug around for, looking for in those packed away boxes, maybe stashed away down in the basement so he wouldn’t be tempted. He’d been trying to quit, after all.

A large glass decanter hung from Tony’s hand, only a quarter of the strong amber alcohol remaining.

Rhodey’s heart sank as he moved around to see Tony’s face, already expecting what he saw.

In the light of the screens, reflective tears were silently tracking down Tony’s face.

His voice was slightly slurred and barely above a whisper, and it made Rhodey's heart break a little bit. 

"What do I do now, Rhodey? What do I do now?"


End file.
